Playing the Hollywood game to get your script out there is like dating, hoping to find “the one” – which in this case looks like a big spec sale or a greenlight for production on your script. In this world as the writer, you are always the girl, waiting for them to call, for them to ask you out – or to ask for your hand in marriage. For some writers it is always the bridesmaid and never the bride when it comes to selling material. Why do some scripts get sold and others optioned? The basic answer can be found in the distinction between high concept and low concept ideas. The high concept ideas are the marrying kind. The low concept ideas you might date, and under the right circumstances they may just surprise you and be “the one” after all.

The Spec Script Market – The Debutante Ball
The spec script market offers a unique opportunity to new writers outside the system. This is your coming out party. Anyone can sell a spec. The definition of a spec by a writer is something that they write for free in the hope that someone will buy it from them later…however, the industry definition of a spec is a high concept idea that can be taken to market competitively. Specs are taken to market -- the market is studio producers or producers with studio relationships – in what is a 48 to 72 hour process where the studios either bid for it or they don’t. It is the high concept that gives the project heat in the marketplace that gets it read and considered quickly. The spec game is an organized system from representatives to sell to production companies and studios. Fear and chaos rule the marketplace so getting good buzz on a project is important to leveraging a sale.

A Script Sale – Engagement
A spec sale is where a studio or buyer purchases the rights to a project. This is the equivalent to winning the heart of the man of your dreams and getting a very expensive diamond ring. When a spec sale is announced in the trades, you may read that it is a low six-figure against a mid six-figure deal. This means that the writer is paid low six-figures for their script. For instance, let’s say it is a $150,000 against $300,000 deal. The balance, or the other $150,000 will only be paid at the start of principal photography if the script ever goes into production. This bonus amount is reducible by half if there is shared credit. The WGA protects the interest and credit of the first writer, so another writer would need to re-write more than 60% of the original script in order to get a shared writing credit. This is the best of all worlds and a great first step to building your career.

The Selling Game – Dating
Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match. Agents and managers sell to producers. Producers sell to the studios. Studios do their best to say no unless they have to say yes. Consider that everyone who is in a position to sell or buy is subjective about the material they are championing. It is corporate suicide for a studio executive to make a business decision to authorize to pay a large sum of money to purchase a script unless there is agreement. This agreement is best gained through a sense of competition where the studio or buyer feels that if they don’t take the script off the table (make a deal) then someone else will. It can also be gained with a marketable element, such as a star or high-end director attached to the project. Other times there is either a relationship or a corporate mandate that makes a project favorable for the studio or buyer to purchase. The competitive situation is best achieved with high concept scripts that are taken to the spec market by agents or managers. Otherwise it is best to let producers option your material use their relationships to get attachments or find favorable situations for getting your script made.

An Option Agreement – Going Steady
An option agreement is where a producer wants to secure the rights to material for a specific amount of time. Quite commonly it is a $1 option. This usually buys the producer a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of a year or two. Then the amount to renew the option goes up incrementally with each extension that the producer uses. An option agreement has a final purchase price negotiated into the agreement. It provides a floor – the lowest price to be paid – which is recommended if not required to be a WGA minimum, regardless of whether you are a member or not. It also sets a ceiling – the most that you can be paid -- which is determined by any previous quotes or whatever the producer feels is the outside that anyone will pay. The actual purchase amount is determined to be a percentage of the budget of the film that will not be less than the floor or more than the ceiling.

High Concept Material – Being the Dream Girl
High concept ideas are smart and sexy. Only the most commercial scripts will be considered for the spec market. What makes an idea high concept is an original idea that we haven’t seen before within a familiar genre. The basic genres are, on the light side: comedy, romantic comedy, and action-comedy, and on the dark side: action, thriller and horror. These represent the emotions that you are eliciting from the audience. Each of these basic genres has its structure and certain beats that it needs to hit. Other terms such as period, sports, sci-fi, or family can be married to these genres, but it is the basic genre that sells it.

Low Concept Material – The Cute Girl
Dramas are typically less commercial, no matter how compelling the idea. What will ultimately make a drama commercial for a studio are the actors that get involved. Dramas can make excellent movies, but usually don’t make it to the spec market. Low concept applies to other genres as well, where the story is more character, rather than concept driven. There is room in the marketplace low concept material, but it takes more time and in roads to get it to the right people. These are the projects that are most likely to be optioned. They need to find a champion who can bring together the right elements before it can move toward production.

The Aftermath - A Broken Heart or Wedding Bliss
The writer also needs to understand that regardless of whether a spec script sells or not, the spec market is the best tool to get them introduced into the marketplace. After a spec goes out it is a great opportunity to take meetings with the development executives who read your script and responded positively to the writing. When the writer is in the room they can talk about their portfolio of ideas, both high and low concept. The more fans that you have around town, the easier it is to facilitate your career goals. Your fans will want to find a reason to get in business with you. Given the way the system runs, sometime great material doesn't’t sell and lesser quality material does. In the case of material that does not sell which still has merit, this is where packaging with the right elements comes into play. Great material finds its way. Your fans will always champion your great scripts with the right people.

The Career – Marital Bliss
Your arc as a screenwriter is to transition from being an outsider to an insider. As an outsider, your best opportunity to break into the system is with your most commercial material. Although you may have both high and low concept scripts in your portfolio, you want to focus the possible spec as your point of entry. A spec can be that opportunity to break into the system and lead you to a long and happy marriage. If you lead with your other material, the process just takes a lot longer. Trust that once you are in the system, some if not all of your other projects will find their way. In dating, as it writing, it may take some effort to look your best and make a great first impression, but it will give you the best opportunity to finding “the one”.